May 3, 2005

A MEAN HIT ON MEDICAID

GOP good-guys (l to r) DeWine, Voinovich, Chafee and Boehlert opposed the cruel $10B cut

Here's a battle we lost: U.S. Congress last week passed a budget blueprint that could result in significant cuts to Medicaid, the largest single source of funding for HIV/AIDS care in America. Despite majority votes in each body of Congress to remove Medicaid cuts from the budget, Republican leaders pushed through a bill that may lead to between $10 billion and $14.7 billion in cuts to the health care program for poor and disabled Americans.

Votes on the budget were mostly along party lines: Republican senators DeWine, Voinovich and Chafee broke party lines and voted against the budget, while New York Republican Sherwood Boehlert was one of just 14 House Republicans (and the only New York Republican) to stand up for Medicaid beneficiaries by opposing the cuts on the final vote.

If the $10 billion in Medicaid cuts makes the final budget, New York State will be hardest hit, with over $1.37 billion in cuts to benefits, services and reimbursements.

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives voted to take all Medicaid cuts out of this year's budget, but the final budget included $10 billion in cuts to entitlement programs that fall under the jurisdiction of the Senate Finance Committee—namely, Medicaid and Medicare—and $14.7 billion in cuts to programs under the House Energy and Commerce Committee, all of which could come from Medicaid if committee chair Joe Barton decides to swing it that way.

Now it's up to the Senate and House to work out the details of the proposed cuts—and it's still possible that powerful committee chairs and rank-and-file members could revolt against their leaders and block the cuts or shave them down. We'll have more information in coming weeks about front-line organizing work in key districts around the country that will continue to pressure our elected officials to stop the Medicaid cuts—and save the lives of people living with AIDS and HIV who need Medicaid to survive.

The Housing Works AIDS Issues Update is reported, written and edited by Diana Scholl, David Thorpe, Christine Campbell, terri smith-caronia and Housing Works staff. Send your feedback, leads and story ideas to d.scholl@housingworks.org.

You can reach us by phone at 212-967-1500 x168, by fax at 212-868-4222, and by email at d.scholl@housingworks.org. Housing Works provides housing, advocacy and services to homeless people living with AIDS and HIV. Housing Works is the nation's largest community-based AIDS organization and the nation's largest minority-controlled AIDS organization.

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